Visit Notes

Saturday, 21st August 2010

This friary was built by a member of the Joyce family who founded it in 1460. It was for members of the Third Order of St. Francis - married people who wanted to be Franciscan, but couldn't join the First Order due to being married.

The main church and living quarters are built around a cloister and much of the second story of the living quarters is still present. There are fine chimneys and fireplaces as well as garderobes (early indoor toilets).

There are a few pieces of decoration inside the church, mainly beneath the massive bell tower, but the finest piece of decoration for me is the carving of a round tower on a column near to the east window. There is also a small carving of St. Francis on an outside wall overlooking the parking area. The carving of the round tower may indicate that there was once a proper tower on the site and that this is a much older Christian location, but there is no written record of one ever being here.

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About Coordinates Displayed

This is an explanation of (and a bit of a disclaimer for) the
coordinates I provide.

Where a GPS figure is given this is the master for all other
coordinates. According to my Garmin these are quite accurate.

Where there is no GPS figure the 6 figure grid reference is master
for the others. This may not be very accurate as it could have come
from the OS maps and could have been read by eye. Consequently, all
other cordinates are going to have inaccuracies.

The calculation of Longitude and Latitude uses an algorithm that is
not 100% accurate. The long/lat figures are used as a basis for
calculating the UTM & ITM coordinates. Consequently, UTM & ITM
coordinates are slightly out.

UTM is a global coordinate system - Universal Transverse Mercator -
that is at the core of the GPS system.

ITM is the new coordinate system - Irish Transverse Mercator - that
is more accurate and more GPS friendly than the Irish Grid Reference
system. This will be used on the next generation of Irish OS maps.